Lombard inventor hopes device will be seen on TV

If he's lucky, Chad Wooters just might find his product carving out a spot alongside such As Seen on TV classics as the Jupiter Jack car cellphone accessory, the Ped Egg foot callus remover and PediPaws pet claw trimmer.

The Lombard man will pitch his MiniBlindRx, a tool that repairs bent metal miniblinds, on Tuesday to direct-response marketing giant TeleBrands Inc., which has its team in town for the International Home and Housewares Show at McCormick Place. The annual trade show, which starts Saturday and runs through Tuesday, is ground zero for products that promise to help consumers clean, cook and entertain, attracting thousands in the business of stocking store shelves as well as selling online and via television.

With a squeeze, Wooters' $9.99 hand-held device crimps blind vanes back into shape. A former office and apartments facilities manager who often encountered damaged blinds in the units he oversaw, Wooters thought it would be a good fit with TeleBrands, a leader in the direct consumer marketing business. He applied to make a pitch through the New Jersey company's website two months ago.

"They're one of the premier names in television marketing. So, for me, it was obvious that I needed to at least pursue the option with them of becoming one of their partners," Wooters said. "I think every inventor just really looks for those types of opportunities to get the national exposure to their product that's offered by somebody like TeleBrands."

Wooters, who estimates he's spent about $30,000 in designing and producing the MiniBlindRx, is the only Chicago-area resident invited to pitch products to TeleBrands during a private session, officials said. Company reps are not participating on any other panels at the trade-only show.

The odds of a hit are long, though: Of hundreds of submissions each week, TeleBrands selects two products to test market, founder and CEO A.J. Khubani said. About 10 percent of those actually get a major rollout. Of the dozen or so new items a year, most sell for $10-$20 each.

The marketer, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, looks for items that solve common problems and have a wow factor when demonstrated. Most gadgets appeal to female buyers 35 and older, Khubani said.

In addition to checking inventor websites and attending trade shows in the hunt for new products, TeleBrands hosts what it calls inventors days every four to six weeks, with panels that listen to presentations like the one Wooters is readying.

If the TeleBrands panelist like what they see, they move into due diligence, checking to make sure there's nothing similar in the market. Test advertising follows.

"Honestly, people would be fine without our products," Khubani said. "Our products give people some entertainment — they can buy one ... for $10 and have some fun."

Increasingly, shoppers don't have to wait for those gadgets in the mail. More bricks-and-mortar stores are dedicating space to As Seen on TV products.

Jewel-Osco, for example, groups the products in their own section. It plans to begin a rollout this spring of a second As Seen on TV section in 140 of its 170 stores, adding video monitors to play commercials of the items, said company sales manager Kent Davison.

"Customers definitely connect with As Seen on TV. A lot of customers like that because they get it right then and there. There's no shipping. It's convenient," Davison said.

"We think it's going to be pretty good."

Wooters wants in on that kind of merchandising.

Since October, Wooters has sold about 200 of the devices through his website. He has 800 more that he would prefer to move wholesale.

"I'm not a salesman. That's what companies like TeleBrands do. They're able to reach the customer in a way I never could."